Mainspring gets $1M gift in Kittery, restoration project in Rye: Community news

Mainspring, future hub for social services, gets $1 million challenge gift

KITTERY, Maine — The vision to create a place where those needing social services can access food, shelter and a wide range of support services under one roof is a big step closer to becoming a reality.

The coordinators of the Mainspring project, to be located on Shapleigh Road in Kittery and designed to serve vulnerable families from the southern Maine and New Hampshire coastal region, announced that they have met a challenge gift of $1 million, generously granted by local philanthropist Thomas W. Haas through his fund at the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. Mainspring will be home to several nonprofits to offer a variety of services and programs in one centralized location.

Emily Flinkstrom, executive director of Fair Tide, a housing nonprofit and a lead Mainspring partner, noted that the community members leading the capital campaign committee were able to reach the match due to the generosity of individual donors, businesses, foundations and support from the state and local towns. The total raised towards the $5.45 million goal has now reached $3.5 million.

Other key donors to Mainspring include Paul and Jessica McKeon; Jim Stott and Jonathan King; Kennebunk Savings; Gary Blake; the Hannaford Charitable Foundation; the Mary Safford Wildes Fund; Jean and David Lincoln; Jay and Amanda McSharry and their Kittery-related businesses: Litson Villas, Ore Nell’s Barbeque and The Water Street Inn; Good Shepherd Food Bank; and many more. Recently, the town of Eliot voters budgeted a contribution of $50,000 and the town of Kittery allocated $100,000 earlier.

Mainspring Capital Campaign Chair and volunteer John Shea says there is much work to be done to raise the additional funds but he’s confident the project is on the right track for opening in August 2024.

“We expect the community support of Mainspring to continue to build as the word spreads. The model is powerful: Footprints Food Pantry, Fair Tide Housing, York County Community Action, and other agencies all working together in one central location for the benefit of the greater Seacoast Community,” shared Shea.

To get involved and donate to the project, visit MainspringCollective.org. The project architects are ARQ Architects, and the construction manager is TPD Construction.

Restoration projects under way in Rye

RYE BEACH — This September concludes a two-year project to restore the mortar surrounding the stonework of the St. Andrew’s-by-the-Sea chapel. Very specialized work, a custom mortar is being created which is a reproduction of the original mortar used in the mid-1800s construction of the chapel. The colors of the mortar are hand mixed to match the various colors of the original mortar which was mostly beach sand with colorful specs of silvers and blacks.  This expert masonry work is being completed by artisans with over 20 years dedicated to historic architectural restoration.  Both Graham and Alex are a gregarious team that welcomes visitors to hear their story of their research and processes used to complete this restoration.

Also in September Eric Anderson, a specialist in painting and repair of historic structures, will be working on property.  Eric most recently completed the repair of the Lychgate and will now be painting and repairing, as necessary, the dark red trim of the chapel.  Eric has been a part of the historic restoration artisans team for more than 20 years.

All visitors are welcome to the chapel to view the work being done to support the Building and Grounds Guiding Principles: Preserve the architectural integrity of St. Andrew’s-by-the-Sea. Select artisans who can repair the structure in accordance with the original design. Honor the simplicity of all elements of the chapel and grounds.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, St. Andrew’s-by-the-Sea is a seasonal summer chapel located on the Seacoast of New Hampshire. It is open from June-September.

Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire will award Citizen of the Year to Napoleon Jones-Henderson

PORTSMOUTH —The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire will host the 17th annual Black New England Conference in partnership with Northeastern University and the Reckonings Project, as with each conference, the BHTNH Citizen of the Year award is given to a member of the community that has made an exceptional contribution to the community and been a role models for others.  This year the award will be presented on Friday, Oct. 20, to Napoleon Jones-Henderson at the awards dinner and keynote speaker address.

The virtual and in-person conference will be held at the Fenway Center at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass., on Oct. 20 and 21.  The BNEC is a two-day conference held annually that brings together scholars, artists, activists, and community members to share research and insights on Black experiences past, present, and future, in New England and beyond.

BHTNH chose Napoleon Jones-Henderson as this year’s Citizen of the Year award recipient because of his decades long commitment to promoting the arts in the Black community.

Napoleon Jones-Henderson was born in 1943 in Chicago, Illinois. Jones-Henderson attended the Sorbonne Student Continuum-Student and Artists Center in Paris, France in 1963 in an independent study program in French Art History and Figure Drawing; earned his B.F.A. degree in 1971 from the Art Institute of Chicago and a M.F.A. degree in Interdisciplinary Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2005.In 1968, during the apogee of the Chicago Black Arts Movement, as a founding member of the Chicago- collective in 1969, AfriCOBRA (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists); Jones-Henderson created large pictorial woven tapestries that were included in the group’s important series of exhibitions.

Jones-Henderson is honored to be the 2023 Citizen of the Year award recipient. "Thank you (BHTNH) for such an awesome recognition and honor. I am very appreciative of your thinking of me in such a manner. I have lived my life as a co-collaborator with others. It is always in an effort to uplift and inspire others. And be so, inspired and uplifted by others as well.”

The Black New England Conference will be held in person at the Fenway Center at Northeastern University in Boston, MA but the programs are able to be accessed virtually. Information: blackheritagetrailnh.org/black-new-england-conference-2023/

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Mainspring gets $1M gift, restoration project in Rye: Community news